It's Haneke's masterpiece. I'm betting the only reason it's not on everyone else's top ten is you haven't seen it... yet. No, really, anyone want to pipe up and say they did see it but it wasn't top ten material, speak now or forever hold your silence. Seriously, this is Bergman-esque in its brittle intensity. Expect this to pick up best foreign film at the Oscars, it already got top honours at Cannes. I grew up on Henry Selick. A Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, I watched both of those films a billion times. So Coraline made me rather nostalgic, and even still it may just be better than either of those two films - a very excellent achievement on his part, really. As for Fox I haven't seen, but perhaps I should - I was an avid reader of Dahl at that age, also. It's not one of Park's best and meanders too much for its own good, but overall it's a pretty worthwhile time at the movies. Anyone wanting to see a slightly tongue-in-cheek and mature vampire movie, well, this is one maybe to rent. Hayao Miyazaki's latest; pretty much My Neighbour Totoro fare. Given Miyazaki's past track record I wouldn't be surprised if it got nominated for best animated film, but do not expect to win (a heartfelt return to form after the mechanical Howl, though.) Well... Look, I practically freaked out when watching the movie because they actually said 'Nyota'. I had been misinformed and went into the film thinking they'd try to pass off Uhura as a one-word name, which infuriated my fanboy self - I told my luckless companion that damn it her name is Nyota. And then I had to stop myself from squealing. And as far as Avatar goes, I was grinning at the six legged horses and the floating mountains and the Muad'Dibness of it all. So yeah, he's on to something there.
I don't have a top ten yet. So far, my favorites are Star Trek, Julie and Julia, Up, The Informant!, Taking Woodstock, and It's Complicated. I haven't seen a lot of the movies I wanted to yet- A Single Man, A Serious Man, An Education, Up in the Air, and Precious.
1. Star Trek 2. Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7: Satsujin Kosatsu II 3. Avatar 4. Moon 5. Watchmen 6. Sherlock Holmes 7. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen 8. X-Men Origins: Wolverine 9. Ponyo 10. Surrogates
Avatar, Star Trek, and Moon were the best new movies I saw this year. Good but not quite on the same level were Harry Potter, Up, Watchmen, and Coraline. I still want to see Fantastic Mr. Fox, Sherlock Holmes, Men Who Stare At Goats, A Serious Man, Thirst, 9, Inglorious Basterds, District 9, probably more I'm forgetting ... This really was a banner year for movies IMO.